Get Fresh: A Smarter Approach to Food Labeling

RH Foster, a supplier of convenience stores, needed to find a more efficient way of labeling sandwiches for their client, Exxon-Mobile. Previously, the sandwich mogul underwent a tedious process just to get the sandwiches labeled correctly. Store clerks would have to:

1. Apply a label (by hand) that identified the sandwich and its ingredients.

2. Use a labeling gun to set and make the pricing label.

3. Get another labeling gun to set and date the freshness label.

As you can imagine, these three manual processes were very time consuming and tedious for the clerk to perform everyday. Even after completing these three steps, the sandwiches weren’t even barcoded, adding an additional step to the POS.

RH Foster needed to find a solution that would allow them to work smarter and more efficiently. They needed a smart labeling process that was easy to use, prevented errors, used a minimal amount of space, and was also able to support network connectivity.

The solution they sought was found in Intermec Technologies, particularly the PF4i, which was able to provide label templates that identified and listed the ingredients for over 50 different types of sandwiches, all with an onboard application that could automatically calculate and apply variable information, such as the expiration date, to each label. Best of all, by using the PF4i, there was no need to connect to a computer since Intermec’s Fingerprint language runs inside of the printer, giving it the ability to effortlessly process the product ID code, bring up the correct label template, display the correct price, calculate the expiration date, add the UPC, and even add the logo!

This all-in-one solution proved to be a much more efficient and accurate way to work, saving over 130 hours in each store per year.

To get the full scoop on how RH Foster was able to save time and money, read the case study.